The meaning of the name ‘pulmonary rehabilitation’ (Oxley et al, 2019)

What’s in a name? Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), an exercise and education programme, is currently the most effective non-pharmaceutical therapy for people with chronic breathlessness. However, uptake of PR is often poor – does it have an ‘image problem’? This article uses an interdisciplinary, medical humanities approach to unpack the term ‘pulmonary rehabilitation’ and uncovers some of the misconceptions, misrepresentations or negative connotations surrounding it.